


Glowstick

by tonedeaf



Series: Me & My Husband [2]
Category: Red Dwarf
Genre: AU - Arlene in place of Arnold, Developing Relationships, Interdimensional Travel, Multi, Rating may go up, Space Shenanigans, some angst thrown in bc why not
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-10-14
Updated: 2019-03-30
Packaged: 2019-08-01 20:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,817
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16291523
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tonedeaf/pseuds/tonedeaf
Summary: There's been a silent yet palpable shift in the dynamic between Dave and Arlene following the light bee incident, but neither seem to be exactly certain of how to move forward.Meanwhile, a dimensional rift abruptly brings the crew some unexpected guests with very familiar faces.[a continuation of Databent]





	1. Nightlight

**Author's Note:**

> what's up I'm back whether you like it or not lmfao

          There were a lot of things that Lister had had to become accustomed to since initially being released from stasis. There was of course the obvious: He was now one of only two beings aboard the ship that were, at least in the traditional sense, alive. Though he'd normally opted to keep it mostly to himself, going from a full working crew of one-thousand and sixty-nine to just him, the electronic ghost of his deceased roommate, a descendant of his cat, and a mechanoid had taken a while to fully come to terms with.

          But there were also plenty of smaller things that, in the grand scheme of things, were almost completely ignorable for most of the time.

          For one, Rimmer now glowed in the dark.

          In the beginning it was much more apparent—Rimmer was still getting used to her new body and for a time had very little control over herself, leaning almost entirely on Holly and the automatic systems programmed into the Holo Suite to regulate her form. This had included automatic dimming and brightening according to the light-level of her external surroundings. There were a number of times in which they were about to go to sleep, only for Rimmer to accidentally shift her brightness all the way up instead of down, blinding both herself and Lister in the process. (Rimmer herself, however, is still convinced that most of those instances were Holly purposely messing with her.)

          These days, many years later, she'd mastered it to the point of being able to self-regulate as easily and without thought as breathing had once been, but even with her brightness turned down, Lister noticed that she still maintained a low glow around her. It made perfect sense—being a hologram, it was impossible for her to have an actual, visible form without any light—and it had actually come in handy whenever he had to navigate the room in the middle of the night, using her as a sort of nightlight. He understood, too, why she didn't just turn her form off completely to avoid this feature; Rimmer was very touchy about being technically-dead and preferred to maintain the illusion of being a normal, living person as much as possible, even if it meant wearing out her battery a little faster.

          But he's noticed that she's seemed to be glowing brighter much more frequently as of late, and though he worried that it was another after-effect of his messing with her bee, she'd been consistently denying that anything was wrong or different at all and to drop it immediately before turning tail and leaving the room if she could. Sometimes during these moments he could swear that he could even hear her bee humming a lot more loudly and intensely, which just worried him further.

          He just didn't get her. Didn't she _want_ to stay online and kicking? Wasn't that why she put up such a fuss whenever she had to go offline? He'd practically moved the stars himself to get her back, but now it just felt like she was trying her hardest to abandon them.

          "What a girl," he mutters to no one in particular, shaking his head as she once again flees the scene, her footsteps fading quickly down the hall and around the bend.

          "Maybe she's just a little frustrated, sir! After all, it's been rather quiet lately."

          "I don't know, Krytes," he sighs, turning to look at him. "She's been acting like this since we booted her back up. I really think something's bothering her."

          "Well, rest assured, sir," Kryten smiles brightly before going back to his folding. "If it were something especially important like her light bee, she would surely never shut up about it."

* * *

          Rimmer had taken to hanging around a particular observation deck, just enough out of the way that none of the others tended to pass by, but close enough that she could still summon one of them if ever needed. It was a place where she felt safe, comfortable in her solitude and able to properly sort through her thoughts.

          Being around Lister made her far too nervous lately.

          It was silly—he was her roommate, someone she'd known for years and would be stuck with for a further many years to come. Her best friend, even, if she let herself be honest. She'd often avoided him out of sheer annoyance, but this was very, _very_ different. She'd never avoided him out of actual, genuine _fear_ before.

          "There's nothing to be scared of, you total _gimboid_."

          She paced the deck to and fro, whispering harshly to herself as if talking to another person entirely.

          "It's _Lister_ , for smegs sake, the same man who shrieks at the mere _thought_ of a bath!"

          She turns and is confronted with her reflection in the glass, becoming more visible by the second as her brightness slowly increases. She shudders at the sight and tries to shake out the nerves from her head, forcing it back down only for it to rise once more immediately. Coming closer, she presses her face against the glass and stares hard at her mirror image.

          "You don't have feelings for him. You _don't_. You hear me? It's just-...just..."

          Before she knows it, she's lost steam and sinks gently to the floor, unable to look at herself anymore.

          "He saved your life. He didn't have to. He's kept you around, even though he doesn't have to. He's your friend even when you don't deserve it. Which is always. So what?"

          She stays there for what feels like a while, quietly muttering to herself in between long stretches of silence.

          "...So what?"

* * *

          After helping Kryten with the rest of that chore, Lister decides to talk a long walk around the ship to blow off some steam and try to figure out what to do, if anything could even be done at all.

          First and foremost was the ever-present issue of him being so attached to her on a level that felt far beyond what it used to be—what was _that_ all about?

          He supposed on some level it might've been expected, them being stuck together in such close quarters on a constant basis and having known her for so long. At this point, Rimmer was really his only true anchor to the past, back when everything had been normal. Holly counted too, he guessed, but then again he'd never been roommates/workmates with the AI. He and Arlene had been firmly stuck together since the beginning, and would probably continue on to the very end just as well.

          But wasn't that why Holly chose Rimmer in the first place, out of everyone? Because they'd spent the most time together, albeit bickering for a good ninety-five percent of the time? Well, he did have to give Holly some credit, since he was still, somehow, perfectly sane even under the circumstances.

          And wasn't it natural to develop a level of attraction and fondness for someone after everything they'd been through? He used to joke that even though Rimmer was, technically, the last woman in the universe, they would never be together, but did this mean that that had simply changed, or was his attraction completely manufactured in order to cope with being alone?

          He's reminded why he doesn't go around thinking this hard about things when he feels the back of his head begin to pound, and cuts himself short, making a detour to go grab a lager and unwind.

* * *

           He returns to the room later that night to find that Rimmer's already in her bunk, faced away from him but still in her regular clothes and not tucked into her blanket. He approaches gently, making his steps softer but loud enough that he won't startle her.

          "Rimmer?"

          She hums lowly in response, confirming that she's still awake.

          He struggles for a moment, trying not to turn this into another tiff.

          "...You okay?"

          "I've told you, Lister, I'm fine. There's nothing wrong with me or my light bee, now stop."

          He sighs, walking over to take a seat at the table.

          "Look, I know I'm being annoying with this, but I just...I just want to be sure. You'd tell me if anything was wrong, right?"

          She doesn't turn around, but turns her head a little more so she can speak more clearly.

          "Of course I would, you goit. May I go back to sleep now, or is the interrogation not yet over?"

          He rolls his eyes and doesn't answer at first, thinking quietly for a minute.

          "Why won't you talk to me lately? You never pass up a chance to hurl abuse but I've barely seen you the past few weeks."

          "Maybe I'm just busy."

          "With _what_?"

          "With _things,_ Lister!" Her body swiftly turns around and she finally sits up and faces him. "I'm allowed to have things to do that don't involve _you_!"

          All caution to avoid a fight is thrown aside and he sits upright and leans toward her, his voice rising slightly to match her.

          "What could you _possibly_ be doing on an empty smegging ship when everything that's there to do is being done by the rest of us, eh? What, you pick up a hobby or something?"

          "Are you implying that I don't hold a role in the upkeep of this giant red trash can? That I'm not of any _use_?"

          "I never said that."

          "Then what _are_ you saying?"

          "I'm saying that I _care_ about you, you self-righteous smeghead!"

          He stands and steps toward her, and she rises instantly to her full height to stare down at him, her colors flaring up in vibrancy as her bee steadily hums louder. It's rapidly becoming painful to look directly at as her glow increases even more, but he fights to maintain eye contact. Things rarely ever became quite this heated, but he wasn't in the mood to back down now.

          "Back off, Lister. I'm warning you." Her voice has dropped to a near whisper and he can hear it slightly crack.

          "You're hiding something, Rimmer. I don't know what or what for, but it's obviously bothering you."

          Her eyes waver, flickering back and forth between him and the wall next to them. He drops his voice back down and tries to sound reassuring while remaining firm.

          "You can _tell_ me. It's okay, Rimmer, I'm your _friend_. It's _okay_."

          He opens his mouth to voice more of his concerns when her hands are suddenly pressed onto either side of his face and she smashes them together in a messy and forceful kiss.

          It's over in another instant and they stare at each other a moment, before she moves quickly to get around him and rush to the door. His brain jumpstarts and reflexes kick back in just in time to spin around and grab her wrist.

          "Wait, _wait_!"

          She stops and turns fearfully around, words spilling out in a frenzy as she panics and begins to tremble.

          "It was a mistake, an impulsive action, it won't ever happen again!"

          "Rimmer please, just stop for a moment," he gently assures even despite the shake in his own voice, loosening his grip slightly.

          "Let's talk. We can just talk about it."

          She doesn't answer and still seems primed to run, staring at him blankly. Slowly, he moves himself closer, and she matches by taking steps back, until they reach the wall next by the door and there's suddenly nowhere left to back up to.

          He watches her, and she watches him. With each moment that passes in silence, it seems to ease her, the jitters in her arm and the hum of her bee slowing down. Her glow is still brighter than normal, but he can at least look at her without pain now.

          "...Lister..." she says quietly. 

          "Talk to me. It's okay, I'm here."

          She looks away, squeezing her eyes shut.

          "...Please don't make me say it."

          He's pretty sure he knows what she means, and what it is that's been bugging her all this time.

          And suddenly, he finds that he doesn't much care for the argument that his feelings and attraction might be an effect of their situation—it all feels abundantly real to him in this moment.

          Rimmer feels a hand lightly shift her face back forward, and she reluctantly opens her eyes halfway.

          He eases in slowly, and presses a kiss onto her lips, backing away just as slow and watching for a reaction.

          She opens her mouth to say something, but is interrupted by a sudden boom somewhere near the ship, causing it to jolt in the resulting shockwave and them to stumble painfully to the ground. The lights flicker off and for a solid five seconds, Rimmer is all he can see, a practical beacon in the pitch black. They wait anxiously before the lights thankfully comes back on and the trembling around them ceases entirely.

          A few moments pass and when nothing further happens, they look to each other questioningly.

          "What in the world...?"

          "Aliens?" She sits up excitedly.

          "...Probably not."

          Lister eases himself back up and reaches out to help her to her feet. The screen in their room flashes on to reveal Kryten.

          "Pardon the interruption, sir and ma'am, but you're both needed here immediately."

          "Kryten, what's going on? What was that just now?"

          "It would appear that a rift of some sort spontaneously erupted within our space, and it's spat out a ship with a living crew!"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> for now, anyway
> 
> will update and might edit a bit at a later point when i'm less tired  
> also to be real, i'm just writing this entirely for fun and i don't even care if it's good or not (even tho i kinda do, tbh)


	2. Window

          While Lister was obviously very amped up about their sudden find, he was still very distracted by what had just happened between him and Rimmer. After Kryten had disappeared from the screen, he'd turned back excitedly, only to find her quietly staring down at the ground, hands clenching and unclenching slowly.

          "Rimmer?"

          Her head snapped back up to attention.

          "Yes?"

          He nodded over at the door.

          "You coming?"

          "Ah-! Yes, of course, just..." She scrunched up her brows and glanced away and back.

          "...Lister, what just happened...that's..."

          He waits patiently, not trying to push her, but she seems unable to formulate whatever response that she'd wanted.

          "Listen," he walks over and gently squeezes her arm once in reassurance, waiting until she's looking at him again to continue.

          "We don't have to talk about this right now if you're not ready to. No pressure. No matter what happens, we're still friends, yeah?"

          She seems to search his face for something in particular, perhaps honesty in his words, and breaks eye contact, taking half a step away.

          "...We'll discuss this later, then. After we've dealt with the situation at hand."

          "Okay," he nods, turning to walk out and head down to Kryten.

          Realizing a few steps in that she's not following, he looks back to see her picking at her nails, eyes boring down with laser-focus. When he looks closer, he can see her shoulders trembling slightly.

          "Rimmer."

          She's torn away from her thoughts a second time, seeming to come back to herself once more.

          "Oh yes, just- I'll be down in just a moment."

          He slowly nods again. The past ten minutes have been moving at such breakneck speed that he'd almost forgotten just how much had actually happened within them.

          "Whenever you're ready."

* * *

          After ensuring, at least to the best of his ability, that she wasn't about to have a complete nervous breakdown, he hightailed it as fast as he could down to the landing bay entrance, where Kryten and the Cat were awaiting the ship's arrival. Noting the presence of bazookoids very nearby, he tilted his head and motioned toward them.

          "They seems like trouble to you?"

          "Not so far, sir, but given our line of luck, you can never be too careful."

          "Good thinking," he grimaced. "So who are they anyway?"

          "I wasn't able to get an actual look at them," the mechanoid notes. "It would seem that the rift damaged some of their systems, including their cameras. I was, however, able to establish a brief audio line, and they seem just as surprised to be here as we are to see them. Strangest thing, though!"

          "What's that?"

          "The audio was rather weak and there was considerable noise interference, mind you, but the man that I was speaking with sounded an awful lot like-"

          He was cut short by the sound of the bays main doors opening in the next room over, and the three quickly turned their attention to the small window in, cramming themselves almost on top of each other to get a peak.

          The ship that entered, slowly and shakily, was the spitting image of Starbug.

          "Hey!" Cat grinned widely, looking back and forth between his friends and the window. "That looks a lot like our ship!"

          Just as they reached the empty spot, the Starbug twin dropped sharply, just barely avoiding a complete crash onto the ground. The bay doors closed and with the artificial atmosphere kicking back in in full, the three hurriedly opened the door and tumbled through, Lister just barely remembering to drag a bazookoid along and shove it into Cat's arms just in case.

          The trio clumsily skidded to a stop at a slight distance, anxiously waiting for the mystery crew to emerge.

          Finally, after what seems like forever, the door slides open.

          ...And out steps Lister, who stops in his tracks.

          "Hey! That monkey looks a lot like you, monkey!"

* * *

           The introductions are awkward at best.

          The other Lister was followed by another Kryten and Cat of his own, but in place of another Rimmer was a man who looked like her and shared her surname. Granted, Lister noted that he also shared a great many of her mannerisms and otherwise seemed to serve exactly the same purpose as his, so he definitely was a copy of her in the same way the others were to them, just in male form.

          It was weird, to say the least.

          Anyway, it seemed that the other group had had an incident with a modified version of the Holly-Hop Drive and accidentally ripped a hole between dimensions—a burden not unfamiliar with either of the groups.

          "Ugh, yeah we're familiar with that kinda thing," Lister had responded, shaking his head and snorting.

          The unplanned rip and the resulting journey had damaged their Starbug quite a bit, and it seemed that for the time being, they would have to stick around while repairs were made and the proper setting to send them home could be sorted out. After their exit the full group had moved over to the Science/Drive Room to further discuss the conundrum and get to know each other.

          "By the way," the other Lister tilted his head and gestured to the trio as a whole. "Where's your Rimmer? Or do you guys not have one?"

          "We ain't _that_ lucky," the Cat grumbled. Kryten lets out a small surprised chuckle, and the two share a quick grin, the other Rimmer immediately shooting them a sour glare.

          " _Hush_ ," Lister says, glancing pointedly at the both of them before turning back to the other, hardly noticing the rapidly approaching footfalls from the corridors outside the room.

          "Ours wasn't feeling well before, but she should be-"

          " _Away!_ Get away from me!"

          The group turns to the entrance as the voice and the running draws closer.

          "Ah, there she is," Lister notes. Other-Rimmer snaps his head back over to him.

          "She?"

          Arlene Rimmer bursts through the doorway, a skutter following closely at her heels and chirping wildly. Lister has little time to react as she rushes over and slides around to take refuge behind him. The skutter follows like a dog, beeping and buzzing as it tries to reach her. The rest of the group jumped back to avoid the droid, but Lister can only put his hands out and try to dissuade it from running straight into him.

          "Hey now, what's going on? What happened?"

          "He's gone mad!" She moves quickly back and forth, pulling Lister along with her. "He tripped me on my way over and now he's trying to finish the job and _kill_ me!"

          "Rimmer you can't die, you're already dead- Ah-! Hey!"

          When the skutter reaches out for her, she jumps onto him, physically pulling herself up onto his back and stepping up further to wrap herself around him.

          "Rimmer get _off_ , that hurts!" Lister struggles to keep his balance upright at the added weight and forceful movements, but she only moves over to climb nearly on top of his shoulders and swing around to his right side when the skutter almost grabs her again, nearly toppling him over and now covering most of his head.

          " _Arlene!_ "

          "Tell it to _back off_ first!"

          "Kryten, a little help here!"

          Both mechanoids startle at the summons before his Kryten moves in to try to disarm the situation, talking gently to the skutter.

          "Excuse me, but would you mind explaining what you're trying to do here?"

          The skutter stops at once and turns to him, emitting another series of beeps and chirps. Kryten listens intently, nodding and humming along as it goes.

          "Ah, I see now. Allow me to explain to her and I'm sure we can reach an understanding."

          The droid dutifully backs up a bit and quiets down, and they both turn back to the Lister-Arlene mashup.

          "This is Mister 5568, or Bill as he prefers," he nods down at the skutter, who does a motion of nodding back, "He informs me that tripping you was not at all planned, Miss Rimmer, and that it was simply an accident."

          "An _accident_ , he says! Then _why_ , pray tell, did he chase me all the way down here trying to get at me?" She remains firmly planted onto Lister, who's given up by now and only waits it out, one arm stuck to his side and the other loosely holding onto the leg wrapped around his front.

          "He wished to apologize, ma'am, both for tripping you and now for startling you."

          "...Apologize?" Her face scrunches up in distrust. "No skutter has ever tried to do that before. Why should I believe that now?"

          "Yeah no offense, but I would never believe that in a million years."

          Rimmer glares down at Lister, who sends a withered look back.

          " _No offense_ , I said."

          "Full offense, but why apologize to _her_?"

          Rimmer is about to bark out a retort to Cat, but 5568, aka Bill, chirps a couple of more times and Kryten dutifully translates.

          "He says he initially didn't wish to but then his guilt chip kicked in."

          "Thanks," she growls sarcastically, finally undoing her legs and letting herself back down.

          Lister holds an arm out to help her balance herself, placing it briefly on the small of her back before remembering himself and pulling it back to his side the second she's back on her feet. He doesn't notice the other Rimmer watching this especially closely.

          She clears her throat, straightening herself out and looking down at the skutter.

          "Well, apology accepted, I suppose. For now."

          Bill chirps cheerily and spins around to head back off to attend to whatever business he had going previously, and the room falls into an awkward silence. Rimmer turns back to Lister and clears her throat again.

          "Now then, whatever happened with that ship nonsen-"

          She at last seems to have noticed the presence of more figures than usual in the room and cuts herself off, turning to look over at the other group, who has been watching the entire scene with varying degrees of shock. Lister—her Lister—can only half-smile and shrug.

          "...Surprise!"

          She spins back to him in a panic.

          "What's going on? What is this?"

          "Miss Rimmer, allow me to introduce you to the, as they call themselves, Boys From the Dwarf," Kryten announces, gently sweeping an arm out to gesture to them.

          "For the record, I was never consulted on nor did I ever agree to that name," Other-Rimmer states instantly. His Lister rolls his eyes in response but grins over at her and holds a hand out.

          "Nice to meet you, luv. Sorry to just burst in like this," he winks.

          Arlene blinks, mildly charmed despite herself, and cautiously accepts the handshake, doing her best to keep it firm as she had always been taught to. It's awkward and stilted, but she seems to be calmed slightly. Lister bites down hard on a sudden nagging jealousy and keeps his light smile on, looking around at everyone.

          "These guys' 'Bug got damaged in the whole rift-thing, so they're gonna be stuck with us a bit while we help them fix it up."

          Rimmer casts a sidelong glance at him, raising a brow.

          "And how long is 'a bit' going to be, exactly?"

          "Well, depends on how long it takes to get things going again. You gonna help out, Miss Chief-Commanding-Officer?" He grins and nudges her slightly with an elbow, throwing in the title in hopes of getting her on-board more easily. It seems to work out, and she immediately lifts her head higher.

          "Of course, what kind of CCO would I be if I didn't? However," she looks back over at the group, gesturing with a finger. "Seeing as we're technically the same people, how exactly do we plan to differentiate everyone from each other?"

          She raised a good point—outside of her own counterpart, the rest of them all looked identical to each other, though the Cats were at least wearing different outfits.

          "Ah, right..." He and everyone else take a moment to look each other over.

          "Well, you two are easy enough," he points between her and her double. "You're Arlene and he's...agh, sorry mate, what was your first name again?"

          "Arnold."

          "And he's Arnold."

          "Ooh, ooh, pick me!" Their Cat throws his hand in the air and grins widely.

          "Yes, Cat?"

          "I'll wear blue," he points to himself, and then to the other. "And he can wear green!" The other Cat makes a face.

          " _Green?_  Why do _I_ have to wear green? Why can't _I_ wear blue?"

          "Because _I'm_ wearing blue," Cat gestures to himself. "We can't both wear blue! You following me here or what, buddy?"

          " _I_ wanna wear blue!"

          "Guys, guys!" Lister stops this before it can go any further. "Here's what's gonna happen: He can wear blue, and Cat, you can wear red or something."

          "But-!" Cat looks around frantically for any backup, and groans. "Fine! You're lucky I've got such an extensive red collection!"

          "Good, but what are we gonna call each of you? It's not gonna work if both of you are called 'Cat'."

          "Why not?" They ask in unison.

          "Ugh, forget it, this'll take all night," Lister drags a hand down his face, turning to the next pair. "Kryten, any ideas for you two?"

          "Er, not particularly, sir."

          Lister sighs again, pointing from his Kryten to the other in turn.

          "Alright, you're Krytes, you're Kryten. Now how are we gonna tell you two apart?"

          "Oh! I have an idea."

          Arlene cheerfully leans over and opens a nearby drawer, pulling out a sheet. Walking over, she pulls a sticker off of it, tilts their Kryten's face towards her, and places the sticker on the very tip of his nose, leaving a large bright-red circle on it.

          "There we are," she announces proudly.

          Arnold snorts and both Cats snicker and point, but Kryten scoffs.

          "Really, ma'am, there _must_ be a better way."

          "Nope, I'm very sure there isn't."

          Lister smiles, but waves a hand.

          "You can move it somewhere else, Krytes, just make sure it's visible."

          Kryten promptly removes it from his nose and proudly places it instead on the upper-right of his chest plate, nodding decisively.

          "Now what about us, eh?"

          He turns to his mirror-image, and they give a long observation of each other, trying to spot any differences that may be there.

          "Ooh, what about Dumb and Dumber?" Arnold volunteers.

          "Or Goit and Gimboid?" Arlene jumps in, grinning to her counterpart.

          "Cloister and Clister!"

          "Smeg and Head!"

          They throw back their heads and laugh uproariously together to the annoyance of both Listers, the other crossing his arms and glaring and the original rolling his eyes.

          "Here: I'll be Dave and you can be Lister," the other states, looking over for approval. Lister nods.

          "Fine by me. How 'bout I wear a bandana around my arm or something?" Other-Lister—Dave—nods his agreement, and that settled that.

          "Right then," he drops his arms to pat the sides of his legs and does one more pass around the room. "We can call it a night for now, I think; let's get you guys some rooms to stay in."

* * *

 

          After one of the longest days in recent memory, Lister sluggishly makes his way back to his and Arlene's room to, preferably, go straight to his bunk and wipe out. Door sliding shut behind him, he's surprised to see his roommate still up and seemingly waiting for him, perched on her bunk and startling a bit when she sees him.

          "...Hey," he greets, unsure of what to say.

          "Hello yourself," she answers, just as stilted.

          They fall into silence, looking around awkwardly and avoiding eye-contact.

          "...Do you..." Lister suddenly says, glancing briefly at her and then the wall again. "...Wanna talk about earlier, then?"

          She gently clears her throat, straightening up again and returning her gaze to him.

          "...I would like to, yes. If you do, that is."

          He huffs a soft laugh, meeting her again.

          "Yeah, I think we're about due."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized the other night that my mental-image of this version of Arlene is markedly different than the Arlene shown in the original show. I'm gonna draw my version and link it in the next chapter. :P
> 
> Leave some kudos if you like; I like the encouragement lol


	3. Delicate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Arlene a la this AU: http://oi64.tinypic.com/29zcvoo.jpg  
> we love a tall queen
> 
> also I don't suppose I have to even say at this point that this AU diverges from canon in a few different ways?? because it does, lol

          Early the next morning, Arnold Rimmer found himself restless, taking a light jog throughout one of the floors both to blow off steam as well as see if this Red Dwarf had the same floor-plan as his. It did, and he eventually found himself in front of his favored observation deck, ready to take a short while to think before heading back to his and Lister's room.

          But it would appear that the similarities were indeed more than in the ship itself—Arlene was already seated in his usual spot, looking out to the stars. He attempted to quickly backtrack and find somewhere else, but made too much noise, and she spun around, visibly startled.

          They stared at each other for a moment before she relaxed somewhat and turned back around.

          "...You can come in if you like."

          He mulled over this invitation for another moment before cautiously entering, vividly recalling the last time he ran into an Arlene. Taking a seat on the other side of the bench, leaving a polite distance between them, he looked out the window himself and waited for her to say something else, or if she even would. Perhaps they would just spend some time in semi-companionable silence together before going their separate ways until later that day when repairs were to begin.

          It had seemed to be going that direction, as they spent a few long minutes just looking outside. He was even beginning to slip deep enough into thought that her presence almost disappeared entirely off of his radar.

          "Is your past the same as mine?"

          She'd spoken this so softly that he almost didn't hear, and he looked over to see if maybe he'd imagined it. She's now looking at him, waiting for an answer, but what kind exactly he's doesn't know. He isn't even all that sure how to respond to such a sudden and highly-specific inquiry, pursing his lips and huffing softly.

          "...Wouldn't know; I don't know what your past is."

          She smirks softly and turns back to the window.

          "Right, of course. I just..." A slow shake of the head. "I don't know why I asked that. Sorry."

          He waits another moment, watching her for anything that might give him a sign of what to do next. Does he push it? Ask a question of his own? Get up and leave immediately and pretend this didn't happen? A sudden thought flashes across his mind and he frowns at it, mouth suddenly feeling like lead.

          "...Do you have the scar?"

          She's still for a long second before turning her head back over to him, eyes and face entirely blank.

          "If our pasts are shared, then you know what I'm asking. If you don't, we're not the same."

          Another heavy minute of silence. But then...

          She slowly tilts her head back, exposing her neck. A short, thin line of white runs across the front, just under her chin where nobody would usually see.

          It's precisely what he was looking for. He swallows audibly, tearing his gaze away and staring at the window instead, but his eyes are entirely unfocused on anything now. In his peripheral, she lowers her head back down and he lifts his own briefly to show her his.

          "...The same, then."

* * *

          In the afternoon, both Listers finally dragged themselves out of bed and met up in the kitchen, where both Krytens were busily fixing up breakfast and their respective Rimmers sat quietly at the table, Arnold reading a book and Arlene trying her hand at what looked like a ridiculously-complex crossword.

          "Oh! Why good morning, sirs!" Krytes exclaimed upon noticing their entrance. Kryten turned around beaming, a plate in each hand ready to be put on the table.

          "You're both right on time!" He waddled over and gently placed them in front of two of the empty chairs.

          Arnold had glanced up briefly to nod at them before going back to his book.

          "Hardly breakfast-time anymore, but then again 'better late than never' is your family motto, after all, isn't it?"

          Arlene snorts, but her smirk vanishes the instant she glances up at Lister, suddenly shy.

          Their talk the night before could've gone a lot worse, but it could've also gone a bit better. The long and short of it was that she just wasn't sure of her exact feelings still, and didn't quite feel ready to name them nor commit to anything at this moment. It was easy to agree and to back away from making any further advances—things were moving a little too rapid for his comfort too—but he couldn't deny that he still felt a twinge of disappointment and hurt at that.

_"I don't know what I want right now, Lister. I really, truly don't."_

          Still, he reminded himself, it could have easily gone _far_ worse. They had, in past rows, gone up to two full weeks of not even looking at each other, let alone being on any sort of speaking terms. He should be thankful, he thinks. If nothing at all came of their kiss ever again, it at least seemed like things would have an easier time going back to normal.  
  
_"Don't be cross with me. Please. I'm having enough of a hard time with this as it is."_

          He can't stop himself from hoping that they don't go back to normal, though. As he tucks into his meal, he keeps stealing glances at her as she chews her pen, furrowing her brow in that very particular, very-Arlene way that's become so familiar to him. During one such glance, she looks up and catches him, hand jolting and almost sending her pen flying across the room. They both force their eyes back down to their own business and neither look up again at all until he's finished his plate.

          Arnold observes this exchange silently and furrows his brows, adding it to his ever-growing mental list of 'things to ask about later'.

          "Where's the Cats, by the way?" Lister asks as he and Dave hand their plates back to Kryten, who tuts.

          "Likely still squabbling. They've been fighting over who gets to wear what all morning, and it appears that Mister Cat is reluctant to lend any of his wardrobe out, even to another him."

          Lister shakes his head, about to say that he'll go talk to him later, when both Cats suddenly appear as if summoned. They strut into the room to take their own places at the table, one in red and one in blue, and both seem to be in better moods than expected.

          "Mornin'. You two getting on better then?"

          "We've come to an arrangement! We're pals now," Red Cat announces, pleased with himself and gently tucking a napkin into his collar as another plate appears and is placed in front of him. Blue Cat duplicates this action and they both begin to eat without further ado.

          "Oh. Well that's good, then," Dave raises his brows and nods once, crossing his arms and leaning on the table.

          "Yup! We changed colors and now we're both happy!"

          The rest of the group as a whole pauses, full attention now on the pair.

          "...You changed colors, have you?" Lister repeats.

          "That's what he just said, bud, weren't you listening?" Blue Cat admonishes.

          "So wait, hang on," Arnold marks and closes his book, putting it down and pointing between them. "Which one is which now?"

          " _I'm_ Cat," Red Cat point at himself.

          "And _I'm_ Cat!" Blue Cat finishes, also pointing to himself.

          "Oh good, mystery solved," Arlene proclaims in faux-cheer, pressing her face into her hands and massaging her temples.

          "Alright, alright," Lister puts his hands up, coming up with a fool-proof determinator. "Which one of you is the Cat from _this_ universe? The one with Arlene in it?"

          "Me, _unfortunately,_ " Blue Cat drones, rolling his eyes and going right back to his meal. "Sheesh, bud, it's not like we cats all look alike!"

          Lister's about to argue before he thinks better of it and sighs, leaning back in his chair.

          "Right, of course."

          " _Moving on_ ," Arnold interrupts, pushing his datapad over for the others to see. "The Krytens, Arlene and I have put together a comprehensive schedule for all repairs necessary for our Starbug."

          "Now hang on, this has us doing all the work and you two doing nothing!" Dave points at the screen and looks up, annoyed. Rimmer in turns rolls his eyes, easily continuing on.

          "I'll be  _supervising_ , of course, and Arlene has agreed to oversee all maintenance to Red Dwarf while we're occupied with Starbug."

          "Oversee, or actually take care of?" Lister raises a brow at his Rimmer, who merely raises her own in challenge.

          "I will be taking care of things with my team of skutters, and occasionally Kryten will assist in matters where I need it, but I'm quite capable all by myself,  _thank you_."

          Blue Cat laughs loudly for a straight minute with Red Cat quickly joining in, overtaking anyone who tries to speak and fighting to catch their breath at the end, wiping tears from their eyes. When they finally settle down they look around at their companions, quickly realizing that nobody else is laughing, and Blue Cat spins back to Arlene.

          "Oh girl you were  _serious_? That's even funnier!" His case of the giggles starts back up but Lister slaps a hand over his mouth.

          "Alright so you'll do that," he states, still not in full belief but wanting to move on. "And Arn here will do more to help when we need it."

          Arnold's face twists up and he opens his mouth to defend himself but is quickly shut up by Lister, who claps his hands together and smiles around at the group.

          "Let's get started, then, yeah?"

* * *

          Midway through that day's work, they break for lunch and one by one, start heading back up to the kitchen. The Krytens were of course the first to leave to get a head start on food preparations, conversing eagerly about comparing and exchanging recipes. Lister is the next to finish up what he was working on and pulls himself up from the floor, dusting himself off. Looking over to Dave and Arnold, he can see that they're still arguing back and forth over something.

          "See ya two upstairs," he calls, only receiving a brief pause in the yelling and quick nods from both before they go back at it, voices raising even higher.

          About midway there, he hears something in the distance cut through the background hum of the ship. Turning down a corner and walking to the middle of that hall, he looks down the left pathway and spots Arlene at the end, seemingly in the middle of a minor repair and lo and behold—she was actually doing it herself, with a skutter at her side passing her a tool when she asks.

          He leans on the doorway and smiles, easily losing himself in watching her work. A couple of minutes later and she's done, placing the panel back on and securing it in place.

          "Thank you, Bill, you've been very helpful today," she flashes a brief smile down at her assistant, who chirps.

          Lister is of course completely caught by surprise by this, almost considering that he might actually just be hallucinating from some fumes he'd been exposed to while working. But there she is, sending the skutter off on his way with the toolkit and standing up, stretching her legs out and letting out a deep sigh as she wipes her brow.

_"I don't know what I want right now, Lister."_

          She turns to leave and spots him, both jumping back.

          "Oh! Lister!"

          "...Hey," he laughs a bit, giving a small wave and bringing his hand back to rub the back of his neck nervously.

          "...Was just passing through on the way to lunch. Yeah."

          "Ah. Lunchtime already?"

          She seems just as ready to pretend that things were perfectly normal as he was, but it just felt so awkward and stiff between them now, like they were total strangers chatting it up at the bus stop. He points a thumb down the other end of the hall.

_"I've got feelings for you. I know this is weird and we've never even considered it before, and you don't have to return them if you can't, but this is real for me, Rimmer. It doesn't have to be anything, but you should know it."_

          "Wanna walk with me, then?"

          "...Sure."

* * *

          After their fight finally came to a close, Dave had stayed behind to put some things away, citing the need to be alone and cool off before heading up. Rimmer had gladly left first, storming down the halls and repeating different parts of the row over and over in his mind until his bee was loud enough to become concerning. He started trying to calm himself before he threw himself into another resentment-overload, and suddenly notices that he's not alone in this area.

          He slows down and muffles his footsteps, peeking down the next hall over and seeing something quite unusual.

          Halfway down the hall is Arlene, leaning back against the wall with her own Lister in front of her, both leaning into each other's space and speaking quietly. They don't seem to be fighting, but it certainly looked like they're discussing something serious at length. The most startling fact, though, was how comfortable they looked being so close to each other. Small snippets echoed down for him to hear.

          "...Lister...feel it too, but...don't know..."

          "...please just...Rimmer- Arlene, I..."

          He couldn't catch anything else of what they were saying, but he absolutely caught when Lister stopped talking and placed a hand on her face, lightly pulling it toward him. Arlene, to his shock, didn't fight this at all, letting herself be drawn in further and closing her eyes. Arnold really thought that he was about to somehow have a heart attack when she suddenly made a face and pulled herself back up, facing away. Lister looks pained but ends up backing off, scuffing a foot across the ground and gesturing further down the hall.

          A few more incoherent words are exchanged, and he leaves, presumably to continue on to the kitchen. Arlene waits by herself for another minute before pushing herself from the wall and following in that direction. Arnold stands rooted to his spot, muttering to himself.

          "What the absolute _smeg_ was that?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyway let me know if the link to the pic stops working at any point


	4. Happier

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey

          Lunchtime had been nearly unbearable.

          The entire time, Lister and Arlene refused to even look at each other, let alone speak, focusing entirely on their plates with the exception of being directly addressed. Arnold too was shaken up by what he had seen, eyes flicking back and forth between the two in attempts to identify anything at all that may tell him something that explained the situation. Unfortunately he was left only with what little information that he'd come to the room with—the two were, for some inexplicable reason, currently caught somewhere between normal cold tolerance, and, alarmingly, _desire_.

          Or at least that's how the part of it he had witnessed looked. The more he learned about this universe and his counterpart in particular, the more nerves collected and twisted in his gut.

          The similarities just kept piling up.

          And suddenly, one of the Krytens makes a quip about Arlene's time as Ace, and at least one of his suspicions is finally confirmed.

* * *

           After they finished eating, he let the others go on ahead and quietly steered Arlene aside for a moment.

          "What?" Her brow furrowed in slight annoyance as she firmly pulled her arm back to her side.

          "I need to speak with you a moment," he spoke lowly, eyes flicking between her and the direction their crews had gone in.

          "Well go on then, hurry up."

          "About you and your Lister."

          "Nope."

          She immediately spun around on her heel, primed to run off when he quickly grabbed her arm again and tugged her back around.

          " _Yes_."

          "Why?"

          He dropped his gaze down to the floor between them, focused vaguely on both their shoes, and opened and closed his mouth twice before finally coming up with some words.

          "We've met before. I don't know if you remember," he looks back up to her face, looking for recognition. "A few years ago. You asked for my help on your way back here."

          She's silent and seemingly at a loss for a moment, and he thinks he might have gotten it wrong after all...but then her eyes light up a bit, and her lips pull into something of a tired half-smile.

          "You gave me that list; of course I remember. Didn't think I'd ever see you again, though."

          "That's part of what concerns me."

          "In what way?"

          Arnold's about to answer when a pair of footsteps comes back towards them and a figure appears from around the corner.

          "Rimmer?"

          They both turn to the figure instinctively and answer simultaneously.

          "Yes?"

          Lister—Arnold's Lister—startles for a second before chuckling and waving a hand.

          "Right, sorry. _Arnold_ ," he amends, grin falling and quickly replaced with annoyance. "You coming or what, man? That ship's not gonna repair itself y'know."

          "I'll be there in a moment," Arnold states flatly, hoping he accepts the answer and leaves them alone.

          Of course, life has other plans for Arnold J. Rimmer. Lister—Dave—pulls his hands up to rest on his hips and rolls his eyes, keeping himself firmly in place.

          "Your sister'll still be around later when we finish up for the day, now come on, we've got work to do."

          "Sister? We're interdimensional counterparts, not _twins_." His mouth twists into a grimace, crossing his arms tightly and stance changing instantly to one of uncomfortable stiffness...unintentionally matching Arlene exactly as she moves into the same exact pose.

          Dave snorts and shakes his head somewhat fondly.

          "Sure, sure, of course, now let's _go_. Time's a wastin' and all that."

          He glances back over to Arlene, who stares back at him evenly. He wants to continue their conversation, but with Lister standing right there, there's no way to for the time being. Temporarily defeated, he turns away and starts the long walk back to Starbug, Dave right at his shoulder.

* * *

           "I think it would be in our best interests if I move myself to other accommodations for the time being."

          "Wait, what?"

          Lister had only just gotten back to his and Arlene's room and taken off his jacket when she springs this on him from her seat at the center table. Her hands are folded neatly on her crossed legs and otherwise appears perfectly calm, but he's known her long enough to be able to spot how wound up she actually is. She only meets his eyes for short moments, looking down the rest of the time.

          "With the other crew here, our focus is needed entirely on getting their ship fixed and sending them back to their universe. Our current personal issues are distracting us away from that and has the potential to be disastrous."

          Her voice is calculating and without emotion, but he can tell it's only because she must have rehearsed these exact words for hours leading up to this. He has to stop to catch his breath, leaning heavily against the wall next to him.

          "...Alright then," he sighs heavily, attempting to get his thoughts in order. "I'll grab my things and be out in a minute."

          "That won't be necessary," she stands, awkwardly motioning to an already packed suitcase, which had been hidden by her legs.

          "Hey now," he quickly pushes himself off the wall and waves his hands. "You were here first— _I'll_ go."

          "I was the first one living in our original room, yes, but as I recall it, this room was one that _you_ picked out," she looks at him meaningfully. " _I'll_ go."

          Before he can say anything else, she picks up her belongings and walks to the still open door, pausing briefly and look back at him.

          "...It's only temporary. This is not me saying that we can't still talk."

          He nods slowly.

          "Right. I'll, uh...I'll see you around, then?"

          She nods back at him once, mouth quirking up into what might have been meant as a reassuring smile, and then she's gone.

          He isn't quite prepared for how empty the space around him now feels.

* * *

          It's the middle of the night when Cat is very rudely awakened by insistent knocking at his door.

          "What! Who's there! My eyes! I'm _blind!_ "

          He tries to jump out of bed but quickly tangles in his sheets and blankets, sending him straight to the floor. Scrambling back up, he waves his hands around wildly, trying to feel his way around.

          "...Wait," he stops, suddenly realizing what's wrong. He pulls his sleeping mask up to his forehead and shakes his head, grinning at his returned sight.

          The knocking starts back up again and his good mood dissipates in a flash. Groaning and moving his bedspread, he pulls himself up and stomps over, slamming the button to open the door.

          "Do you have _any_ idea what time it is? I need my beauty sleep!"

          "Can I sleep in here with you?"

          He stops, caught completely off-guard. Arlene stands before him, wringing her hands nervously with a bag on the floor next to her.

          "...Girl, are you out of your damn mind, _again_? No!"

          He reaches for the button again to close the door in her face, but she quickly shoves herself forward, blocking and hanging onto it desperately.

          "I can't sleep on my own! I've tried and I just can't!"

          "So go back to _your_ room! You've got gerbil-face!" He's pressing the button over and over again, but she keeps letting herself be hit by the door, scrambling to get in.

          "I can't, we're-!" She stops, suddenly refusing to speak but still pushing against the door. He stops pressing the button and crosses his arms.

          "Listen, I don't care if you two are fighting again, you are _not_ staying in my room! It's _mine!_ " He punctuates this with a firm push, and she stumbles back, the door finally closing and locking her out.

          Satisfied, he brushes his hands and starts to head back to bed.

          "...Please. I won't bother you, I just want to sleep."

          "Go _away_ ," he flops back into his pile of blankets, moving his sleep mask back down.

          "I'll lay on the table and turn off my projection, you won't even know I'm there."

          "I'll still be able to see you."

          "The floor then."

          He doesn't answer to that, but she doesn't walk away.

          "... _Please_ Cat. Just for tonight."

          There's something about her pathetic pleading that strikes him in a way he doesn't quite recognize, but it's doing something weird to his stomach, and it doesn't make him feel very good. He wriggles uncomfortably for a moment, then sighs and pushes his mask up again.

          "...You leave in the morning!"

          "First thing. Promise."

          "Ugh, fine, I _guess!_ " He stomps over and opens the door. "If it'll get you to _shut up_ already and let me sleep!"

          "Thank you, Cat," she answers calmly, carefully taking herself and her bag to the floor on the opposite side of the room.

          A moment is spent getting herself settled onto the ground, and a few seconds later, she flickers out and vanishes entirely, leaving behind only her light-bee. The Cat feels a weird shudder at the sight, and firmly moves his mask down for the third, and hopefully final time. The door is shut, the lights dim back down, it's finally quiet again, and he settles back into a comfortable sleeping position.

          ...Except he seems to be unable to turn his mind off now. He tosses and turns for a while, trying to quiet his thoughts, but something keeps nagging at him insistently.

          "...Why are you and monkey being so _weird_ lately?"

          He doesn't know why he asks this, but there it is anyway, hanging in the air. Reluctantly, a small high-pitched voice answers.

          "We've just had another fight. That's all. This happens all the time, you know that."

          "Yeah, but you've never come _here_ after one before. What's up with that?"

          It's silent again in the room and he thinks that maybe she won't answer this time, but she eventually does.

          "...I'm too used to sleeping in the same room as someone else. I can't sleep alone now."

          "So why'd you leave the room?"

          "I had to, it would be too weird if I stayed right now."

          He _hates_ the sound of her bee-voice. It's far too grating on his sensitive hearing and, just as important, it sounds absolutely ridiculous. He flips back over to face her direction.

          "Talk in your real voice, the squeaky one hurts!"

          He hears her projection flick back on and her normal tone, thankfully, returns with it.

          "It was a bigger fight than normal; we just need a bit of time apart to sort ourselves out. That's _all_. Now go back to sleep."

          His gut isn't satisfied, still wriggling with some sense of wrongness, but he also doesn't really want to learn more about whatever it is those two are doing, nor does he especially want to continue talking to her.

          "Fine, but you better keep your anxiety to yourself this time—I can feel it and I don't like it."

          "You can _feel_ it?"

          "Cats can sense emotions, dummy. We're em-fats."

          "You mean empaths?"

          "Whatever! Take your own advice and go to sleep already!"

* * *

           Meanwhile, Arnold tosses and turns fitfully in his own bunk while his Lister snores contentedly (and _loudly_ ) in the one above it.

          At some point, he gives up and slides out of bed, leaving the room for another solitary trip through the long empty halls of the ship, and eventually finds himself back at the same observatory deck from this morning.

          Also much like this morning, he finds that it's already occupied. He'd been somewhat hoping to find Arlene again so that they could continue their discussion, but annoyingly enough, it's her Lister this time who's forlornly looking out into deep space.

          He awkwardly clears his throat and watches the other scramble around.

          "Oh...hey man," Lister settles down and raises a hand in greeting.

          "Good evening."

          Lister seems to remember something and looks down, patting at himself for a moment before looking back over and shrugging sheepishly.

          "Sorry, I don't have the bandana right now, but I'm not your Lister."

          "I'm aware," Rimmer walks over and comes to stand on the other side of the bench. "Mine is currently in our room doing a simply delightful impression of a sputtering lawnmower stuck in a running wood-chipper."

          He receives a good-humored snort in return.

          "Him and I aren't so different after all, then. Can't sleep through it?"

          "It's normally not much of an issue these days, no. I turn down my audio input and sleep just fine."

          "...Oh," Lister seems strangely struck by this, scratching his head a bit. "Something else wrong?"

          "...Not exactly, just can't seem to settle down tonight, I suppose," he reluctantly answers, still feeling all sorts of weird speaking to a different Lister.

          "Must be weird being on a different ship, even if it is just like yours."

          "Yes, that may be it," Rimmer pauses for another moment, then carefully sits himself on the very end of the bench. "Having trouble sleeping as well?"

          His companion exhales heavily at that, shoulders and head dropping a bit.

          "...Yeah, something like that."

          He waits, hoping that the similarities to his Lister will play to his advantage.

          It does—he only has to wait a few more seconds before the man is spilling his guts to him without him having to prod more.

          "...Me and Arlene have been...fighting lately. She's sleeping in a different room tonight, and I can't-"

          "Wait," Arnold interrupts, not expecting that. "Hang on. You two share a room normally?"

          "...Yeah," Lister seems confused by his response. "Don't you and your Lister?"

          "Yes, but that's because we were roommates before the leak and we never bothered to change that. Why are _you_ two sharing a room?"

          "Same for us, man—we were roommates."

          "...But she's a _girl_."

          "...Yeah, and?"

          Arnold is dumbfounded.

          "The JMC never did co-ed, or at least in my universe they didn't. Why'd they do that here?"

          "Ah," Lister chuckles a bit, suddenly getting it. "Nah, they didn't here either until I got here. There were no more rooms with available beds left in our section and they didn't wanna move either of us to one outside of our rank, so they just kinda stuck us together and told us to deal with it."

          "That's _insane_."

          "Yeah, it was really awkward at first, but it ended up working out in the end, at least."

          "Still."

          "Yeah," Lister laughs again, looking back out to space. "Life here was pretty crazy sometimes."

          His voice dropped at bit at the end, and Rimmer can sense the sad fondness for the old days creeping in.

          That kind of thing happened sometimes with his Lister too.

          "Anyway," he quickly tries to move the conversation back toward the light.

          "...Tell me more about this universe. What sort of things have you lot gotten up to over here since you woke up from stasis?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> there's never enough actual-interaction between Rimmers and Cats imo, and also I have a hard time writing chapters in a timely manner, but what else is new amirite


	5. Sunflower

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> one day i'll write regularly and with aim

          When Arlene's internal clock goes off early the next morning, she opens her eyes to unfamiliar surroundings. After the initial few moments of bleary surprise, her memory banks finally kick in, and she recalls her embarrassing display on the Cat's doorstep a few hours previous. Trying desperately to hold back the urge to curl up in a ball and cry over how horribly pitiful it all now felt, she rolled over to push herself up and leave as quickly as she could—only to jump back and yelp at the sight of a face directly in front of hers, staring intently.

          Her brief moment of terror startles the Cat to jump back himself, and they each end up on opposite sides of the room.

          "What was _that_ for?" He yowls, leaning against the side of his bed.

          "I could ask you the same thing, you mangy git! What on Io were you staring at me for?"

          "You kept twitching around and _glowing_ , I thought your bee-thing was dying again—had me real excited," he complains, picking himself off the floor and gently dusting himself off. She rolls her eyes, swallows the mortification trying to crawl up her throat, and pushes herself off the floor to stand.

          "I was simply dreaming, now if you'll excuse me I _did_ make a promise to be out of here as soon as I was awake."

          Her temporary roommate says nothing as she takes her bag and briskly moves to the door, slamming the button and exiting as quickly as she can manage.

* * *

          He can still remember both the first and second times that they met, clear as day.

          It was a mad rush to get aboard once he managed to enlist, the ship was scheduled to leave a mere few hours after he'd discovered the Earth-bound Dwarf was docked on Mimas for shore leave and he'd thrown together his haphazard scheme to get back home. The enlistment process was fairly quick, all things considered, but he wasn't able to rest until he was safely within the confines of those dull grey walls.

          The majority of the crew was already back on board, walking briskly this way and that to get back to their rooms and stations to settle in for the journey ahead, and he kept getting tripped up in the halls in his attempt to find his own room. Hungover and stressed, he was about ready to just sit down and sleep right on the floor when he turned and suddenly slammed face first right into another crew-member.

          "Ow! Watch it!"

          " _Smeg_ , I'm so sorry, I-"

          He looked up, rubbing his forehead, and there she was.

          A woman not much older than he was, though quite a bit taller, glared back at him, nostrils flaring, eyes pointed down, and curly hair fighting to escape the tightly-wound bun atop her head.

          She was _beautiful_.

          "If you're done gawking, I'd like to get past _please,_ " she bites out, and he remembers himself.

          "Right, sorry, I- Sorry."

          He quickly moves out of the way, and she stares daggers at him for another long moment before scoffing and moving on her way.

          It isn't until a little later when he realizes that she's the same woman he'd given a lift to in his cab just the other night. When it soon turns out that, much to their mutual shock and befuddlement, they're now roommates and shift-partners, Lister can't help but feel a bit lucky.

          That feeling dies down somewhat considerably once he realizes just what being roommates with Arlene Rimmer is truly like.

* * *

          Lister wakes up, to his surprise, still in the observation deck. Groaning in pain, he pulls himself up back to a sitting position on the bench and blearily looks around, gently stretching his stiffened back and neck. He remembers that he'd spent a long while talking to the other Rimmer about his adventures over the years but can't pinpoint where exactly he fell asleep during it.

          Arnold isn't there anymore, but he's suddenly aware of a blanket draping off of him, and he knows he hadn't taken one up with him. The side of his mouth twitches up into a brief smile, and he carefully attempts to stand, joints cracking loudly against the silence. Slowly, he steps toward the doorway to go back to his room to sleep a bit more, dragging the blanket with him. Voices suddenly appear, quietly approaching down the hallway, and out of habit he goes still, trying to identify who they belong to.

          "And you're sure that was all?"

          "I'm not, but it's all he said happened and believe it or not, I wasn't exactly inclined to stick around and have a chat."

          It's Arnold and Arlene, and he's wide awake now, heart hammering against his chest and head whipping back and forth as he tries to quickly find a place to hide. He wasn't _ready_ to see her this early in the morning, dammit!

          The voices get closer and he quickly slides over to the side of the door and takes refuge on the other side of an artificial plant, just out of view from anyone looking in. He'd wait for them to pass by, then make his escape. Too easy.

          Except he hears Arnold suddenly hush her, and they audibly slow their pace. Smeg. Smeg it all.

          "...What is it?" Arlene's whispering but she's clearly annoyed and confused. Arnold shushes her again.

          "Your Lister was in here earlier, I don't know if he still is."

          That certainly shuts her up, and Lister does everything in his power to completely silence himself, cursing the rapid heartbeat currently pounding in his ears. He hears Arnold step over to the doorway, and he holds his breath.

          "...Alright, he's gone, we can sit in here."

          No!

          "How did you even know he was here?"

          He stands perfectly still as he watches both Rimmers walk in. Arnold coughs awkwardly.

          "I was passing by on my jog."

          She doesn't seem convinced but amazingly, she doesn't push it.

          The two move over to sit on the bench and he takes the chance to slowly inch his way around the plant and backwards through the doorway, keeping an unblinking eye on them for any sudden turns the entire way. Once he's through he steps to the side and leans heavily against the wall, just barely suppressing a huge sigh of relief.

          Now out of danger, he knows he really should leave as quickly as he can, and he _definitely_ shouldn't be eavesdropping... _but_ , he is rather curious about what the two Rimmers could possibly be discussing with such seriousness, and without any Rimmer-typical bickering, even. He pulls the blanket up over his shoulders and leans slightly over to hear better. Purely out of concern, of course. He's going to make sure everything's alright and then he'll leave.

          "Do you recall anything from your sleep cycle then? Anything at all that might explain things?"

          "...I don't know if it may explain what happened, but _obviously_ I do remember my dream sequence."

          "What was it then?"

          She's silent.

          "...Arlene don't go holding out on me now, this is _serious._  This could really be-"

          "I don't want to talk about this anymore."

          "...You might be in danger. _We_ might _both_ be in danger. For smeg's sake, woman, we're the same person, if you can't tell me then _who_?"

          Now what's this about _danger_? Lister abandons all pretense and settles in for the full discussion, eager to learn more, but the two go completely silent for a full minute.

          "...I'm sure you must have similar memories to mine. Of what it was like on Io and on here."

          "...I'm sure that I do."

          "Then I'm sure you can guess at what I dream of the most."

          They won't put a name on it and it's frustrating the hell out of him. What was it with Rimmers and always talking in riddles?

          "...But do you think it may have anything to do with the glitches we've been experiencing?"

 _Glitches?_ Was her bug broken again? Were _both_ of their bugs broken? Why haven't they told anyone?

          "How do you mean?"

          "...Well, I have something of a theory."

          "Spit it out, then."

          "What I mean is, what if we're _too_ much alike?"

          "...What are you talking about? Of course we're alike, you said it yourself—we're the same person."

          "Yes, but what if the two of us being together in the same universe is causing a problem?"

          "You mean like one of those paradoxes in films and shows, where two versions of the same person shouldn't meet or else all hell breaks loose, or something?"

          "Something like that."

          "Why haven't the others seemed to experience anything like we are, then? And why did nothing happen when we met before all of this?"

          "That part I haven't figured out quite yet."

          She scoffs.

          "Well then, back at square one aren't we?"

          "Yes, I suppose we are."

          Lister's head was starting to hurt with all this. What in the world was happening and why does Arnold seem so worried? What happened to Arlene that started the conversation in the first place? And even more confusing—what did she mean when she said they met before?

          He decides he's finally had enough and should get back to the room to rest more. As he starts to shuffle off, he hears Arnold speak again.

          "...What made you sleep in the Cat's room last night anyway?"

          He stops for a moment, unable to process that sentence.

          ...There was no way she...Cat would never let...They...

          He forces his feet to start moving again. He _really_ needed some more sleep if he was hearing ridiculous things like _that_.

* * *

          Much later, after another half-stilted breakfast amongst the full crew, Lister notices the Cat, who had spent the whole time either staring up at Arlene or refusing to look up from his plate, leaves rather quickly, running up ahead of the group down to Starbug. Other-Cat doesn't seem to know what's bothering him but opts to give chase anyway, presumably more out of instinct than anything even remotely resembling concern.

          He turns and watches Arlene make quick work of vanishing to her own part of the ship, and his mind wanders back to what he overheard this morning.

          It wouldn't make any sort of sense for them to have had a sudden _thing_ going on—he shudders violently at the thought and immediately shoves it out of his mind—but something was definitely up.

          The rest of the group slows down for him and he snaps himself back to attention, opting to just not think about it for now. Eventually, they reach their destination and find the two cats again, who are sitting off to the side seemingly in the middle of a discussion. While the others board the small ship to pick up where they left off, Lister stops to observe the two for a moment, somewhat amused. He watches Red Cat lean over to sniff at him and then instantly reel back in disgust.

          " _Eeeeyuk!_ Why the _hell_ do you smell like lady-Rimmer?"

          His brain short-circuits even as his Cat hisses in equal disgust.

          "How _dare_ you say that!"

* * *

          Elsewhere on the ship, Arlene quietly walks through the empty corridors, mind wandering to vague thoughts of repairs that may need doing, when she abruptly starts to flicker on and off, vision cutting in and out while her image shifts and rebuilds itself over and over just as quickly. She gasps and weakly catches herself on the wall just as it stops, taking a moment to make sure it's actually over. She flickers briefly once more but then stabilizes, seemingly back to normal just as fast as it had all started.

          She stays still a moment, closing her eyes and taking a deep breath she technically didn't even need.

          "Smeg."

          Maybe it would be better if she actually slept on her own tonight.


End file.
